Taking A Step Back

Banner By: Juliete

Title: Taking a Step Back
Rating: PG-13
Author: Sxymami0909
Fandom: Vampire Diaries
Pairing: Damon/Elena
Word Count: 535
Prompt: “Sometimes you have to be apart from people you love, but that doesn’t make you love them any less. Sometimes you love them more.” written for Ziva21’s birthday



Damon knew it was wrong. He shouldn’t have told her he loved her…he shouldn’t have made that kind of declaration after the day that they’d had. It was selfish and the only thing it would accomplish would be to put Stefan, Elena, and himself in the same position he and Stefan had been in with Katherine all those years ago.

And he couldn’t let that happen again. He cared about Elena too much, to put her through the emotional ringer that he’d been through and that was why he compelled her to forget his words. He meant what he said to her…he loved her, and so he couldn’t be selfish with her.

But as he watched Elena blink several times rapidly, he couldn’t help how his heart clenched. Everyone around them thought he was callus…a heartless murderer, if they only knew how far from the truth they really were. Damon felt more than anyone gave him credit for.

He might act like a dick and pretend he didn’t care, but most of his actions throughout his life had been dictated by strong emotions. When he and Stefan were human, Damon had always been the wild card, following his dreams and desires, living with his heart instead of his head.

Something that he still did to this day, but not this time and not with Elena. He wouldn’t let his need ruin her. She was too good…too pure. He knew that she was in love with his brother, but he also knew she felt something for him. It was possible she might never admit it, but Damon had a feeling she wouldn’t be able to hide it forever.

And so he’d wait. He did what he needed to, he got the feelings that had been suffocating him lately off his chest and then he took the memory of that particular complication away from her. If Elena was going to love him, he wanted it to be because she fell in love with the person he was, not because outside forces had influenced her.

Damon wasn’t perfect, he knew that. He’d done a lot of bad shit in his life and he’d probably at some point do a hell of a lot more, but Elena had changed him some. He wasn’t as impulsive as he once was and now instead of only thinking about how things would affect him, he thought of how they would affect her.

He knew on some level she was aware of his feelings for her, but until she was ready to admit it, Damon would take a step back and let her be happy with his brother. Because if it was one thing he’d learned over the last two centuries it was that sometimes you have to be apart from people you love, but that doesn’t make you love them any less. Sometimes it even makes you love them more.

Damon was in love with Elena Gilbert and it wasn’t based on a dream or some fantasy like his love for Katherine had been. No, this was real uninhibited love and he’d wait for as long as he needed to for her to see it. After all he wasn’t getting any older.